Fear

There can be many reasons behind fear but the one that I have encountered is self-doubt.

Dr. Sugata Sanyal

Mon, Sep 29 2014

Disclaimer:The views expressed by the blogger and the subsequent comments by readers do not necessarily reflect the views and policies of Prabashi Post

About Dr. Sugata

Dr. Sugata Sanyal was a Professor in the School of Technology & Computer Science at the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research and a writer by passion. He is a Research Advisor with the Tata Consultancy Services now. Please click here for more info.

Fear is an issue which is felt by most, people are afraid to talk about it, it shows the weakness. Important point to understand is that it could be a huge phobia, it can block your activities, it can cripple you from being active, forget being proactive.

My personal experience: I have gone through few bouts of such phases. There could be many thousands of causes. But one issue which I have personally seen is self-doubt. If you are a creative person of somewhat high order, you will successfully complete some assignments, and you will pick up a next, more challenging assignment, or you may get assigned as well with one such. I was lucky enough to get saddled with multiple such assignments, simultaneously. That is the point when a level comes when the internal mind assesses and pre-decides about the possible toughness of the load on you. And there comes the trouble.

If you are tough, or if you are not particularly sensitive about the outcome, you are okay. It is just that some people are careless about the result or outcome. Some are not so lucky. And if the load is too high, you start going towards the bottom, depression sinks in, and it starts taking you lower and lower. We tend to lose the zest for life, family, friends, hobbies and all issues. It all depends on the value one attaches to one or many such issues in hand. This is one serious topic and this is perhaps one reason why the suicide rate has gone up high in life.

How I have gone about it: I have seen how crippling this could be, for days after days. If the mind thinks that the problem is unsolvable, then there is a serious problem.

How to come out: Not easy. No way would I say that it is easy. But the take away message is that anybody can sort this out and come out and successfully. One fundamental point is to understand that whether it is really tough issue or you think it is tough. If it is tough but by stretching yourself, you can handle it, go for it. The simple fact that you are able to start tackling it, that will help you come out of the funk. And start taking in some issues or jobs for family, where you are connected with the world at large. That will help you to see different perspective of life. You will understand that negative thoughts are so meaningless. There is almost always a solution.

Sometimes, you might have landed with some job, which is totally beyond you. Your ego blocks you to say NO, there is social stigma. There is pressure of keeping a job in hand and not to get kicked out. Take a break. Go to home town, take your family to some place, detach. Once you are away, you will be able to see the issue which is causing fear and what is the real point. Then take a call on it. If it is really beyond you, talk to your senior, and say so. You will find out that most of the time, tough senior persons do help. I have done it to my juniors and I am still doing it today, for people at large. Once you can isolate the cause and have decided to tackle it or detach from it, you will get a huge relief. And that is what which will slowly remove your fear.

And if you can start helping others (as a Mentor) to help them tackle their fear, you have reached a much higher level. Try these if you are facing it or if you ever face it. You will find that you have the inner capacity to tackle almost any issues which life throws to you. I have done it. It is not a 100% success process. But if you can win 90% of the cases, you have made it. And if you are also helping others, you have gone much higher.

I have gone through all these and some. I have found that we have tremendous power within. Have faith, and keep faith on yourself. And do help people who are struggling. There is no better reward. Are we getting any reward from these? Who cares? And YES, we do get rewarded in many ways. Mostly you start gaining an inner peace and a tremendous strength in your mind.

Do start now. I have started long back and I am planning to continue. Life is a great journey. Fear fears itself as it knows that we have the power to overcome it. Are you looking for help? Mentor? If you really need help, help comes to you. It is the truth.

Zee (Wednesday, Oct 8 2014):Great article!
My experience with truly transcending fear comes from being in the moment. We “think” and make things worse at times. Remove thought and time from a situation and it automatically enables you to deal with a crisis, solve problems more efficiently, etc.
I recently read a quote on Fear:
FEAR – Forget Everything And Run
In a true life and death emergency this might be one’s only option.

Dr. Sugata Sanyal (Friday, Oct 3 2014):Subhamoy: Apt comment.Longish title would have been How To Conquer Fear type!! I did not want to start another. This was simple sharing my experience and possible remedy with all my friends around the world. Take away message: FEAR is REAL.Getting out is quite possible.We should help others, always, as much as we can.

Subhamoy Chakraborti (Friday, Oct 3 2014):Had read somewhere that Fear is "False Evidence Appearing Real". But when we get into a Fear-ful situation, it sucks us into a subconscious limbo. We start imagining ourselves into a constrained setup and forget the immense potential we were born with. Very positive article from Prof Sanyal, contrary to the title.

Dr. Sugata Sanyal (Thursday, Oct 2 2014):Gunter: Coming from you:world-famous Yogi & Psychoanalyst, I take this as high compliment.My humble thanks to you.
Shankar: I appreciate. Good to know that Chanakya and I, we thought similarly.Hope some more brave-hearts will comment and help me to improve. Good wishes to you all.

Shankarnath Goswami (Wednesday, Oct 1 2014):Chanakya said many centuries ago around 200BC that whenever you see fear banish it.That is a serious impediment of progress. A human mind is guided by Nava Rasas e.g.Sringara or Love,Hasya or Laughter,Raudra or Fury,Karunya or Compassion,Bibhatsam or Disgust, Bhanayak or Horror,Vir or Heroic Mood,Adhbhuta or Wonder & Santa or Peace.Research on this classification was done in India between 200BC & 200AD.

Guenter Von Hummel (Wednesday, Oct 1 2014):I agree with the statement Prof. Sugata Sanyal has given in this article about fear. It is not the fear from outside, it is the fear from inside which makes us the most problems. An enemy we could see but the inner fear is invisible and so more dangerous. Thanks Sugata Sanyal for your instructions.
Dr. G. v. Hummel from Munich in Germany